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Leoven
Summary Just a humble, god fearing back-country blacksmith. Abandoned at birth, Leoven the firbolg forge cleric was raised by elvish priests in their forest monastery. Devoted to the gods of Gond and Rillifane Rallathil. Background The first noun which life threw at Leoven was abandonment. When he was but a few weeks old and no more than 2 or 3 stone in weight he was found alone in foot of the Black Forest on Skull Island. He has never known, how or why he came to be cast aside, whether his parents did it out of heartlessness or helplessness, but Leoven was ultimately one of the lucky ones. He was found, draped in a rough-spun blanket by the elvish priests of Rillifane Rallathil, who live on the western peninsula of Skull Island. Some think them absolutely batshit crazy to set up a monastery in such a place and their home is often known to outsiders and the monstrous monastery for its locale. There charity saved Leonven’s little fury life. The elves, having little to do with firbolgs, by the nature of firbold society, could not at first understand why this hefty toddler was as helpless as new-born. They did not realise that he in fact was a new-born, just a rather large one. Leoven grew up under the mentorship and care of these kind forest priests. In his youth he spent his days roaming the forests, making his own fun in the way that children do. Equally happy to be alone in the wilds or accompanied by the other few children the friars had taken in (they liked him because more mischief can happen when you have access to high places). There was prayer before sunrise, and sunset but in-between he was allowed to roam. The elvish priests lived in a self-sufficient compound in the forest. They farmed, they weaved, they gathered, they prayed. At the monastery there was an old dwarven blacksmith named Gottlo, whom took quite a liking to Leoven. His impressive size made him an obvious choice for the smith’s apprentice, and Leoven’s early sprouting of a mighty beard further impressed the dwarf. With the blessing of the priests, Leoven would train with the smithy. Leoven enjoyed working with his hands, it was satisfying, honest work, god’s work. From then on Leoven spent as much time hammering metal as hammering out prayers, and became distinguished at his own style of ecclesiastical metalwork. He gave thanks to the gods for the strength of his arms to bring the hammer down again and again until he converted the metal to his form. Leoven liked to joke that he was the only evangelist in the compound, consistently converting metal from its previous form to a new one. “Casting the slag(s) into the fiery pit bellow” he would say a bit of shit blacksmith humour for you. A time came when Gottlo moved on, he was getting old and wanted to go spend the rest of his days back in his homeland of Eastcairn. To reconnect with the life and land he came from. Leoven took over as head smith and could make almost anything by then, from the humble bolt, to the sturdy bathtub, to the beautiful and intricate sceptre. After some time Leoven started to think of the outside world, beyond the forest he knew and loved. He had spent his days devoted to god and folds of metal, but he felt it was time to move on and see more of the world. By now he had trained his own skilled apprentice and it seemed if Leoven didn’t leave now he never would. Questions tugged at him - who was he and where did he come from, and what else was there out there in the wider world. He felt this calling so packed up his simple belongings and left - to forge a new path a bit of shit blacksmith humour for you. After some time wondering, and for the first time facing some of the dangers of the peopled world (which he totally took in his stride with a little help from his hammer), he arrived on Ilbidor. Naturally drawn by the promise of old, ancient and sacred metalwork and the chance to travel drew him to the archaeologists’ guild. Motivation * See some of the good lords' fine creations * Beautiful and ancient metalwork * Do goo unto others Relationships * Used to be apprentice to a blacksmith dwarf named Gottlo * Later picked up and left behind his own apprentice * Has deep roots amongst the elvish priests of Rillifane Rallathil Life events Traits * Due to his lack of experience of the outside world Leoven can sometime be ignorant of things one really ought to know. * He has no love for gold, except for that he might use in his metalwork, and frequently likes to rid himself of his accumulated possessions by giving them to other.